Post 111: How To: Survive Week One.

So, I started a diet a few weeks ago. As many others who have dieted know, the first week is the hardest as you get used to the shift in your diet: from normal foods, comfort foods, and sometimes junk foods to healthy foods.

My mom and I have done lots of different diets and I have had family do a variety of diets. The one that has been the most beneficial and had the most impact, I've found, is the South Beach Diet. The first two weeks are by far the most extreme. 

The first two weeks is no fruit, no starches, no sugar. Basically, it is vegetables and meat. However, one thing that doesn't go away is cheese. Though, it is still limited. It also has morning and afternoon snacks. Anyway, this post isn't about the South Beach Diet (http://www.southbeachdiet.com/) it is about surviving week 1 of a diet, any diet. 

The three biggest tips I can give:

1. Start a blog/journal/diary. 
2. Don't sweat the small stuff. 
3. One weigh or no weigh. 

It is helpful to start a blog/journal/diary. Each one will have a different purpose depending on which is best for you. Journals are good as a way of keeping track of what you ate, drank, or did (like exercising). Diaries are more of a narrative. You keep track of things still, but when you talk more about other things as well like how you are feeling and things like that. Blogs can be a combination of the two, but is really best for support. There are a lot of people out there who are doing them who you can support and you will find that people will support you as well. 

Don't sweat the small stuff is a very important lesson to learn. I have seen people throw away a diet because they cheated in that first week. It is important overall, but especially in that first week, not to let cheating become a reason to quit. If you cheat once or twice, don't just give up on the diet. Don't throw the towel in. Think of it like learning a skill, just because you stumbled or struggle doesn't mean you should just give up. It is better to cheat once and awhile than give up on the diet completely. 

One weigh or no weigh is something that I think might work for some people more than others. I think that for the first week, stay off the scales entirely or only weigh yourself at the beginning. The first week, I think it is important that you focus on how you feel. Some people feel like they lose a lot of weight during that first week, even when they only lose 2 pounds. After the first week I think it is important to remember this as well. Losing weight in healthy weigh is only a few pounds a week, so checking more than once a month can be discouraging. Overall, I actually don't check the scale at all. I think this helps me because I am not doing the diet because I want to be a specific weight. The main reason I am doing it is because I want to be healthier and feel healthier. 

I think that looking at the numbers too much can detract from that. And week 1, when you are still at the beginning, and not truly committed yet it is easy to be disheartened when you are craving things the most and not seeing results yet. 

So, that is my advice.